Eobeet f



(No 330331.)l

R. I". LBAMAN. DISTRIBUTING FILE.l

lip. 334,532.

Patented Jain. 19, 1886.

y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT F. LEAMAN, OF OINOINNATI, OHIO, AssIeNOR TO THE GLOBE FILEs COMPANY, OF sAME IJLAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part; of`Letters Patent No. 334,532. dated January 19, 1886.

Application tiled January 5, 1883. Serial No. 81,038. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ROBERT F. LEAMAN, a

. resident of the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State'oi' Ohio, have invented a new and useful Distributing-File, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is designed chieily for the use of business men who Iind it necessary to classify their mail-matter in preparation for ling .ro the same or for distributing it among the various departments of their business'to which such matter properly belongs.

By means of myvinvention the letters,papers, and packages received may conveniently be placed upon the desk or table of the person receiving the same in such a manner as not to encumber the desk, and at the same time so that the sundry classes of papers may be kept distinct or apart from each other, and within easy reach of the person occupying the desk or table.

My invention enables the head of an office who receives and opens the mail-matter to rapidly place such papers and packages into a position where the various clerks may readily take in charge those papers and packages which belong to their respective departments.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure lis a top perspective View of a portion of a table, showing a file or rack illustrating my invention in position thereon. Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of two of the partitions of said file, these partitions bey ing affixed to their supporting-base, the latter being shown in central longitudinal section.

Fig. 3 represents a transverse sectional elevaj tion, the section being taken at the dotted line m w, Fig. 1.

A indicates a table or desk, or equivalent 4o support, upon which the ile is located. This file consists in general of a base, B, and a number of concave-convex spring-partitions secured to said base. Thepreferred mode of constructing these springs inl relation to each other is to connect two of the concavo-convex partitions, b, by a flat portion, d. Adjoining partitions are placed so that their convex sides are in close proximity to or in contact with one another. Each pair of partitions is so constructed that its concave sides form a compartment between them. The partitions thus located form two classes of compartments-viz.,

one, E, between the convex sides of the partitions to receive and securely hold by springpressure thin papers, (as, for example, letters,

bills, postal-cards, and the;like,) and a second compartment, D, between the concave sides of adjacent partitions, which shall allow paper packages coming in rolls or bulky articles of mail-matter to be placed within the curve of the partitions, andl shall also allow books,

packages, Sto., which are higher than the partitions to be placed within the open top of the adjacent concave partitions. These partitions may be attached to the base ,in any suitable way. The most desirable Inode of constructing these partitions in relation to each other is to connect the bases or lower ends of two of the partitions by a Hat portion, d, and it is obviously preferable that this flat portion connects those partitions whose concave sides are toward one another, or that form compartment D. This fiat portion d is suitably secured to the base, in the present instance, by screws passing through said portion and into the base,

as shown.

For the purpose of allowing the connecting portions d and the heads of the screws to be below the top surface of the base B, and thus to be prevented from causing the papers and packages in the compartment D to rock or tilt, as would be the case were the portion d and the connecting-screws located above the base, and for the purpose of aiding in steadying the partitions, and in causing their sides to be always opposite one another and in aline, l preferably employ a channel or groove, a. In this groove a are located the ilat connectingportions d of the partitions. Thus these portions d and their screw-heads will be below the upper surface of the base. The sides of the grooves are usually close against the edges of the partitions, and thus assist to brace them and prevent their being moved toward either side of the Iile. Those partitions which are at the ends of the file are preferably braced by blocks c, or equivalent braces, secured to thebaseB. Suchbracespreventunduespreading of the various partitions d of the file, and allow each partition to be made much thinner IOO and lighter than it could be made were the braces omitted. Any desirable words or characters indicative of the uses and purposes to which said compartments are to be applied may be placed upon the tile, usually upon the base, as shown. For example, the description of matter which said compartments are to receive, the department of the business to which the matter is to go, &c., may be named on the le. One of the compartments7 E, and an adjacent compartment, D, may ordinarily be profitably used as ajoint tile under onedivission, the thin papers of said class being pnt in the compartment E, and the thick and bulky ones in compartment D.

The papers which are placed in the compartments E are held securely and tightly between the adjoining partitions d by means of the spring-pressure of said partitions.

Vhen in use, the file will be located at a convenient place on the table or support. 1n

case a table or desk supports the file, the latter will usually be placed at the right-hand farther corner of the desk or table.

Vhcn preferred7 the base of the ile maybe the table or other support; but I prefer to provide the iile with a separate base, so that the file can be laid upon the table or support7 or be removed therefrom when desired.

The base B can be screwed or otherwise secured to the table or desk when deemed expedient to do so.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

A iiat base piece having a longitudinal groove, and a series of springarms formed in pairs, each pair having a flat portion of such width as to fit the groove in the base-piece, and secured therein, the pairs placed close together, so that the convex sides of the concavoconvex spring-arms of proximate pairs will face and nearly touch each other, all combined as stated.

ROBERT F. LEAMAN.

Attest:

FRANK R. ELLis, J. \VM. STREHLI. 

